Surface Seducer® foam tying materials

Tie next-generation foam poppers, sliders, and divers.

Design by Martin Bawden.

The Double Barrel is an innovative, modern, soft-foam popper body that makes it easy to tie the most popular popper, slider, and diver flies being used today to target various species from panfish to sailfish!

It has several unique design advantages over other popper bodies and is available in a comprehensive range of sizes and colors, allowing you to tie a full spectrum of flies.

The versatile foam head can be tied on with the cup facing forward to create popper flies, and can be tied on in reverse to create slider, diver, and Sneaky Pete style foam flies.

Combine the Double Barrel with Surface Seducer® Dragon Eyes™ and Surface Seducer® Popper Hooks to tie a wide variety of foam flies.

Quantity per pack: Extra-small, Small, Medium (8); Large (6); Extra-large (4).

To learn more, read this article by Martin Bawden:
Inside look: Designing the Surface Seducer Double Barrel.

• Video
• Features
• Specifications
• How to use
• FAQs

• Deeper cup
  The innovative Double Barrel design creates a deeper than normal front cup for a louder pop when working your fly! When reversed, it offers a nice recess to bury the body materials of your slider or Sneaky Pete.
  
  Extended top lip
  The aggressive top lip of the popper head helps concentrate a bigger “splash” further forwards.
  
  Recessed eye sockets 
  This unique feature means that 3D fly tying eyes, such as Surface Seducer® Dragon Eyes™ and Fish-Skull® Living Eyes™, can now be securely embedded deep inside the popper head, making for a stronger and buggier-looking fly!
  
  Tail socket
  The back of the popper has a recess hole that allows for embedding tailing materials or the rear loop of an articulated shank into the popper.
  
  Popper “skin” 
  The Double Barrel is manufactured through an innovative process that creates a smooth, strong outer skin on the popper body. This outer skin is durable and has a naturally smoother, nicer looking finish, which means at the most basic level, there's no need to paint, decorate, or clear coat your popper. You can simply mount the body onto a Popper Hook, add Dragon Eyes and some feathers for a tail, then go fishing!
  
  Full size range
  The comprehensive range of five sizes allow you to create the full spectrum of popper styles being used today to target various species from panfish to sailfish!
  
  • Extra-small: Perfect for tying small panfish and carp flies.
  
  • Small & Medium: Great for tying typical “bass bug” poppers.
  
  • Large & Extra-large: Ideal for tying large saltwater and freshwater predator flies target big game species such as pike, musky, stripers, redfish, and sailfish.
  
  Bright, vibrant colors 
  White, yellow chartreuse, green chartreuse, black, orange and blue.

• Extra-small 
  Length 13 mm x Width 10 mm x Height 8 mm.
  Fits #8 hooks and 3 mm eyes.
  
  Small
  Length 16 mm x Width 13 mm x Height 10 mm.
  Fits #6 hooks and 3 mm eyes.
  
  Medium
  Length 21 mm x Width 17 mm x Height 13 mm.
  Fits #2 hooks and 4 mm eyes.
  
  Large
  Length 27 mm x Width 20 mm x Height 18 mm.
  Fits 2/0 - 4/0 hooks, 28 mm shanks, and 6 mm eyes.

  Extra-large
  Length 33 mm x Width 27 mm x Height 26 mm.
  Fits 5/0 - 6/0 hooks, 40 mm shanks, and 8.5 mm eyes.
• Mounting the Double Barrel on a hook or Articulated Shank
  
  Step 1 
  
  
  
  Select a bodkin or heated needle of roughly the same diameter as the hook or shank.
  
  Step 2 
  
  
  
  Insert your bodkin from the tail socket and slowly push it through the foam body until it comes out the cup. Make sure it comes out in the correct position, which is slightly above and just past the bottom lip.
  
  Step 3
  
  
  
  Put the hook or Articulated Shank in your fly tying vise and cover the shank with thick, coarse thread wraps in a crisscross fashion. This is important for gripping the foam inside the popper body to prevent twisting.
  
  Step 4
  
  
  
  Put a liberal amount of clear-drying Super Glue Gel on the hook shank.
  
  Step 5
  
  
  
  Slowly but firmly mount the foam fly body onto the hook. Position as desired and leave for a minute or two to dry. Take out of vise and repeat with your next foam fly body and hook.
  
  Note: Although it is Super Glue, it is suggested to leave your mounted hooks for an hour or two before working further on them. It sometimes takes time inside the foam for the glue to set properly.
  
  Painting & decoration:
  The smooth, strong, and shiny outer "popper skin" on the Double Barrel gives you several options for decorating your popper. There are various methods and techniques to customize your poppers and a wide range of materials available, such as paints, air-brush kits, clear coats, and markers. You can make anything you want, from a quick, basic popper to much more complex works of art. It’s up to you!
  
  There are different approaches you can take based on your needs in terms of time and the degree of difficulty:
  
  • Basic: If you wish to keep it quick and simple and go fishing, tie your popper without clear coating or painting the body. The Double Barrel’s smooth outer skin and vibrant colors give your popper a bright, finished look.
  
  • Clear coat: Cover the Double Barrel body in a clear coat to increase the durability of your popper and make the bright, vibrant colors really pop! Various clear coats could be used with the most popular typically being Epoxy (30-minute) water-based urethane adhesives such as Liquid Fusion, Sally Hansen’s Hard-As-Nails, or the newer UV light-curing resins such as Loon Outdoors UV Clear Fly Finish.
  
  • Decorate and clear coat: Add spots, stripes, scales or shades of color to the unpainted popper body with a permanent marker or paintbrush, or create more complex painted patterns with an airbrush system. Then add a clear coat to protect your artwork during fishing.
  
  • Paint, decorate, and clear coat: This is the most time-consuming approach, but the reward for your efforts is a beautiful and durable fly. Mount the Double Barrel on the hook, then paint it with a primer followed by several layers of paint to create a great canvas on which to decorate your body and finally finish it off with a nice clear coat.
• Q: What kind of foam is the Double Barrel made of, and is it hard or soft foam?
  A: The Double Barrel is made of an extremely durable soft foam (EVA Closed-Cell Foam).
  
  
  Q: What types and sizes of fly tying eyes are compatible with the Double Barrel?
  A: We have designed the Surface Seducer® Dragon Eyes™ to fit the Double Barrel, but virtually any type of 3D Eyes on the market, including Fish-Skull® Living Eyes™, can be used to create great looking flies!
  
  The Double Barrel's eye size compatibility is as follows:
  
  • Extra-small Double Barrel: 3 mm eyes.
  • Small Double Barrel: 3 mm eyes.
  • Medium Double Barrel: 4 mm eyes.
  • Large Double Barrel: 6 mm eyes 
  • Extra-large Double Barrel: 8.5 mm eyes.
   
  
  Q: Which popper hooks fit the Double Barrel™?
  A: The Surface Seducer® Popper Hooks are matched as follows:
  
  • Extra-small Double Barrel: #8 hooks. 
  • Small Double Barrel: #6 hooks.
  • Medium Double Barrel: #2 hooks. 
  • Large Double Barrel: 2/0 to 4/0 wide gap, streamer hook or use a 28 mm Fish-Skull Big Game Shanks with a trailing hook.
  • Extra-large Double Barrel: 5/0 to 6/0 wide gap, streamer hook or use a 40 mm Fish-Skull Big Game Shanks with a trailing hook.
  
  Tip:  When tying an articulated streamer using a Fish-Skull® Chocklett’s Big Game Shank (or as a Tube fly), both methods allow you to use the hook of your choice. We suggest using a short-shank hook to reduce the leverage a hooked fish can exert and you may wish to use a small split ring to connect the articulated shank to the hook. This allows you to easily change out the hook (and tail of the fly) to adjust to different fishing situations and also extend the life of the popper.